When I was a student, I was in the field of visual communications. Well, that is how I liked to put it. I still am, but I’ve often changed how I phrased it.

In recent years, I always went with the title of designer. However, to me, that is now incorrect. Or, it’s just silly.

Perhaps inspired by the dude who becomes my hero more and more each day, Aaron Draplin, or perhaps inspired by going back to a term I once used, I’d now like to just refer to myself as a graphic designer.

Sure, it doesn’t sound as elitist, or important as designer, but it sure sounds cooler. It makes me think of colors, posters, vectors, kerning, and communicating visually.

Those who know me would not be surprised to know that these things to matter to me. Terms, that is. Titles? No. Official job titles are for the weak, and for those who need a prefix or suffix to speak louder than their work. Graphic designer feels the right amount of dirty. By dirty, I mean ink on the hands, and dirty as in taking money for something you’re not proud of like those advertising fellas.

My name is Nicholas Burroughs, and I’m a graphic designer.

See? That felt nice. As a whole, this is a continuation of my recent epiphany of realizing I want to solve design problems, as a graphic designer. You know, as opposed to pretending I’m solving other problems in which graphic design does nothing for. But more on that later. If you’re a graphic designer, keep on designing. If you’re not sure what to call yourself, don’t worry, as you’ll figure it out inevitably. It’s taken me almost seven years to decide on something that I feel comfortable with.